The current sewer system is set up to collet run off water, etc. from storm drains and carry it off to dump in a stream, river, bay or ocean. Trash and debris often gets caught up in the flow of water and even thrown down the drains by careless people. This presents a severe environmental problem in that the trash and debris also end up in the streams, rivers, bays and oceans thereby polluting them.
Pollution has become a global problem and solutions are needed to prevent more trash and debris from being dumped into our vital water ways. One such solution is proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,935,132 issued to Schaier which teaches a drain pipe filter that is attached to individual storm drains and is formed of a wire cage which fits inside of an existing drain pipe. Attached to the wire cage is a series of oil absorbing fibers. Additionally, there is a helical coil at the entrance point of the cage which also has oil absorbing fibers attached. This trap is meant to be disposable and a new trap is put in when it becomes full. However, this just produces additional waste in used traps. Access points must be built into the sewage and drainage systems for putting in and changing the filter units. Also, these filters can only filter the water from a single drain.
Therefore, a filter for storm drains and the like is needed which can filter the flow from multiple storm drains as they flow to a single point, such as at the end of the sewer line which empties out into a water way. There is also a need for a filter which does not need to be removed when full, can be easily accessed for cleaning and has a replaceable oil trap.
The device of the present invention satisfies the above needs. It comprises a metal framing which supports the stainless steel walls and is built on, and is attached to a concrete platform. There is an oil filter mat which is placed on the floor of the structure to absorb some of the oil present in the sewage water. Holes in the floor of the device, which align with holes in the concrete platform, allow only the water and not the trash and debris to exit the filter unit.
Additionally, the filter unit is fitted with a door for easy access to the inside of the unit for cleaning. The filter unit is designed to be manually cleaned. The unit is bolted to the concrete platform and connected to the sewage line by a pair of flanges.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide for a sewage water filter which can filter the water coming from multiple storm drains and or sewage lines.
It is another object of this invention to provide for a sewage filter which can filter large amounts of water.
It is still a further object of this invention to provide for a sewage filter which incorporates an oil filtration mat.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide for a sewage filter which has easy access for cleaning.